Joerg Polzfusz

http://www.camerasolution.de/v2.0/index.php/Leather

https://www.micro-tools.de/en/Leather-Leatherette/

Stacking anamorphics? The Chinese company „Great Joy Lenses“ suggests to screw their 1.35x attachment into an anamorphic lens (1.33x + 1.35x = 1.8x or 1.5x + 1.35x = 2x). But does this make sense? Why do I want to invest into an anamorphic lens when later using an attachment? And what would be the effect on reflections/flares? https://greatjoylens.com/1-35x-anamorphic-adapter/

Contacts as spare parts for repairing battery compartments/holders are also available in various shapes, e.g. https://retroreiz.de/shop/werkstatt/ersatzteile-fuer-game-gear/batteriefach-kontakt-fuer-sega-game-gear/ https://retroreiz.de/shop/werkstatt/ersatzteile-fuer-gameboy-color/batteriefach-kontakt-fuer-gameboy-color/ So even replacing the corroded contacts in an otherwise fine Nikon holder might be an option.

There are some battery holders on Thingiverse - but non of them seems to fit a Nikon. ☹️ One example: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1755397

Hi everybody! I just did another test with my Fujica ZC1000 and the classic CineAssist. The camera still needs the special cable, but today it is suddenly also working fine in single frame mode and with the CineAssist set to „time lapse, 10 frames at 1 fps“?! Yes, the camera’s suddenly clicking ten times! That’s completely bizarre! I hope that my self-made cable doesn’t have a loose contact anywhere?! Or are the new, fresh batteries in the camera causing the difference? (Today, I tested with only four batteries (main compartment above the viewfinder) and with all eight batteries - the camera is clicking ten times in both cases.)

The shutter degrees for Bolex cameras are normally listed here: http://www.bolexcollector.com/cameras.html

Hi! It could also be some hair or dust (in the camera or in the telecine device). Is this defect also visible on the film? When it is also on the film, you could check whether it’s a real scratch and whether it could be some residue from the processing lab’s final wash step.

Daniel, you also have to understand the other side. E.g.: What would you say when the mortal remains of George Washington, Martin Luther King and your grand-grandparents would be put onto display in a museum in Brazilia?

Hi! This is a difficult topic: Some pieces in Berlin‘s museums have been stolen from their original owners (even though the museums probably didn’t know when buying them), e.g.: https://www.humboldtforum.org/en/temporaere-neukonzeption-der-benin-sammlung/ I think it’s more than fair to return* these objects. (But I still think that it’s unfair to blame the museums without also blaming the auctioneers in Paris and London.) Other pieces in Berlin’s museums have been bought in the countries of origin from the local governments. On top, the museums/archaeologists had to organize and pay the excavation themselves and even had to pay the rights for the excavation, e.g. in Troy. The old invoices still exist. I can understand that the people in these countries would like to have "their" historic objects back. But their governments should have thought of this before selling anything. Here, I don’t like the idea of "returning anything". Then, there are objects from the former German colonies (yes, Germany had some before WW1). Some of these items have been "presents" to the German government/emperor. But nobody knows if pressure has been applied to enforce these "gifts". (In some cases, there are even documents that proof that the "donor" and his/her family died under strange circumstances before or right after officially handing over the objects.) So it looks like these "gifts" have been in fact stolen. Hence, they should be returned*. Just my two cents, Jörg *= I don’t like the idea of shipping historical objects as they might get damaged/destroyed/lost during the transport. Hence, I would prefer if the heirs of the theft victims would simply officially sell or rent these items to the museums that currently store them. Of course, documenting the way how these items ended up in these museums should be part of the exhibitions.

No, it should be „analog out“.

Hi! There are several small, portable, digital multi-track recorders, e.g. this one: https://zoomcorp.com/en/de/mictrak-recorders/mictrak-recorders/m4-mictrak/ But despite having 4 separate tracks of input, it only has got 2 channels for the output. So when selecting more than two tracks for playback, there’s a downmix of the output to stereo. Do you know any device that can not only record three separate tracks but that can also play them on three mono or on one stereo plus one mono connector? At the moment, I need a laptop with an external soundcard for this. But this solution is very bulky Thanks Jörg

Maybe the colorists think that they are fixing problems in post that have been caused by the DoP and his filters (or lack of filters) - so that they are doing his job?! ? (Just kidding!) I’d rather think that the term is not clear anymore as many directors in Hollywood have also been their own DoP, editor and colorist - in order to have full artistic control about their film. And - for budget reasons - in many low budget productions, commercials, music videos, documentaries, … the (video) camera operator also is responsible for the light, the sound (recorded by the camera) and the complete post-production (editing, … ). So there are many cases where the “cinematographer” does much more than in his traditional role. Hence, the role doesn’t seem to be clear anymore. Even in Wikipedia’s definition, there’s something like a contradiction between “cinematography” (= producing a movie) and “cinematographer” (= “only” being the “Director of Photography”). And to make it more confusing: In many German productions, there was/is no “Director of Photography”. Instead, there’s a “main camera operator” and separately/independently a “main lighting operator” who both only report to the director. (So it’s more like the director also being the DoP with the two operators being allowed to propose angles, movements, lights, …)

Hi! How do you define „cinematographer“ these days? I know the „official“ definition e.g. on Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cinematographer But today, even the ones doing the „post-production“ (editors, colorists, sound f/x persons, …) seem to call themselves „cinematographers“. Is this just a „German“ or „European“ thing (some kind of improper translation)? Or is there a general, worldwide extension of the term onto everyone involved into the production of a film/video/movie? Jörg

Hi! I don’t see any SLRs - only box- and folding cameras. And the movie cameras have two or three lenses (=no zoom). Given the dresses and the devices, I would say somewhen between 1945 and 1955. Some of the photos hanging on the wall on the right hand side look familiar to me. Aren’t these Hollywood actresses? Merry Christmas Jörg

You might be correct. But there are other strange things on their website. E.g. they state: "…At the core of our new film lies a unique chemical formula based on the wonderful and legendary Agfa stock last used in the Oscar winning film ‘Out of Africa’. …“ (source: https://www.orwo.shop/ ) But they don’t tell how ORWO managed to get the formula from Agfa-Gevaert: InovisCoat only took over the coating devices from AgfaPhoto. And AgfaPhoto didn’t produce any cine-films. Agfa-Gevaert is still in business and never mentioned having sold any formulas. And ORWO got separated from Agfa in 1945. So, there’s no way that the statement is true - unless InovisCoat also bought some formulas from AgfaPhoto and unless AgfaPhoto‘s last still films have been accidentally based on Agfa XT 320 - without the renktet. (BTW: "Out of Africa" wasn’t even completely shot on Agfa-Gevaert’s Agfa XT 320, but also on Kodak’s Eastman 100T 5247.) Hence, it would have made more sense for me stating that their films are based on ORWO PR100 or ORWO QRS 100 (ORWO‘s last C41-still-films from the early 1990s). Or to sum it up: It would be great if they would stop presenting contradicting, illogical information. (BTW: When mentioning „AgfaPhoto“, I‘m talking about the former film-manufacturer in Leverkusen and not about Lupus Media selling Ferrania-/Fuji-/Kentmere-films under the brandname „AgfaPhoto“.)

The problem is that FilmoTec states that the coating will be done by InovisCoat in Monnheim on Rhein. (E.g. see https://www.orwo.wtf/about "…Film coating was contracted out to InovisCoat…"). But now, ORWO also states that everything is done in Wolfen: https://www.orwo.wtf "…proudly still produced in Bitterfeld-Wolfen on the original site where film manufacture has been a tradition since 1910…" This cannot be true as Filmotec still cannot coat and as some tasks are done in China - see https://www.orwo.wtf/blog/an-update-on-our-wolfen-photo-films-production-packaging-and-shipping

Fuji released color negative films in 16mm in 1971 (or maybe even before - the online translation of this page doesn’t work well: https://web.archive.org/web/19981201190852/https://www.fujifilm.co.jp/history/f1970.html ) B&W negative films for 16mm have been mentioned much earlier in Fuji‘s history.

„Recently“? https://www.kodak.com/en/motion/page/chronology-of-film lists color negative films available for 16mm in 1968. And b&w negative has been available for 16mm long before that. But e.g. ORWO Color NK18 was introduced in 1964 or 1966 and also available in 16mm. So Kodak most likely wasn’t the first company to release color negative stocks in 16mm.

When you ignore some European no-/low-budget movies, then this is the only feature length film I can think of that has been entirely shot on color reversal and got released in cinemas: https://m.imdb.com/title/tt0046008/technical?ref_=tt_spec_sm

And the richer „whatever“ for reversal filmstocks is a myth as it totally depends on the type of film (just to name the „families“: Kodachrome, Ektachrome, Agfachrome, Fujichrome, Orwochrome,…). E.g. the current Kodak Ektachrome 100D is very saturated compared to Agfa Moviechrome 40 and has a completely different look than Kodak Ektachrome 160G. For the majority of people, using reversal filmstocks is simply the easiest and cheapest way to get a single film that can be projected. (In the past, at least Kodak, Fuji and Agfa produced special filmstocks to duplicate reversals. And several labs offered a service to duplicate reversal films (S8, 16mm, slides,…). So, being limited to having a „single copy“ when shooting reversal is a thing of the last 20 years.) Upppssss, looks like I have completely missed your question. ?

That "transition" took place in the 1930s. I guess that the majority of us wasn’t even born at that time. E.g.: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Garden_of_Allah_(1936_film) https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women_Are_Better_Diplomats

Hi! Nice idea and realization. The only thing that I didn’t like was the music (as it’s irritating when the dancers are dancing to a different rhythm and as I don’t like that style of music). ?

Changing the shutter speed helps to remove this effect (frame rate is more or less fixed in this special case). Thanks! It looks like these LEDs are flickering at the mains’ 50Hz. It seems that only a very simple rectifier is integrated. ? At least, the problem only occurs in the kitchen where we had use cheaper „no name“ LEDs to replace the halogen lamps (40W G9). That’s because -in that shop- the other Chinese LEDs with „known brandnames“ would have been to bulky or would have only been equivalent to 30W. All other rooms are also equipped with LEDs, but from LEDvance, Philips or Samsung. And they don’t seem to cause any problems at my „usual frame rates“. ? The strange thing is that none of the LEDs state their „flicker-frequency“ on the box. ? I wonder if I will run into the same problem in other places, e.g. when shooting the Christmas activities in my relatives‘ households. ?

Hi! Do you also have problems with flickering LED lights? Some of them don’t seem to cause any flicker, while others flicker like hell (depending on the frame rate - the linked video was shot in „slo mo“ with an iPhone - most likely at 120fps). Do you know how to avoid this? Jörg